Tag: "Evolutionaries"

Over the past two years, EnlightenNext‘s Executive Editor Carter Phipps has been participating in a kind of global think tank for conscious evolution called the Evolutionary Leaders group. This meeting of what was initially 38 people, including Deepak Chopra, Michael Beckwith, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Jean Houston, Brian Swimme, Steve McIntosh, Don Beck and many more, started in 2008 with a “A Call for Conscious Evolution” petition that was signed by over 36,000 people worldwide. Since then the group has met consistently both virtually and in person, started to work on a variety of projects including a potential book and documentary, and has grown to over 50 people, including EnlightenNext founder Andrew Cohen.

This week, Cohen, Phipps and the rest of the Evolutionary Leaders are convening in Los Angeles for their most significant meeting to date: a week-long retreat that will include a live public event tonight from 7:30-9:30 pm PST. Continue reading…

Readers of this blog may have heard of the great Indian sage Sri Aurobindo. We have often acknowledged him in the pages of EnlightenNext magazine as one of the pioneers of evolutionary spirituality. Recently, we reviewed a fascinating new book by long-time Aurobindian scholar Peter Heehs called The Lives of Sri Aurobindo, published last year by Cambridge Press. I wholeheartedly recommend the book to anyone who might be interested in finding out more about this incredible Indian sage. Ellen Daly (who wrote the review) and I visited Heehs in Woodstock, NY, last year and really enjoyed speaking to him (you can hear a recording of our conversation here). He is without doubt a serious student of Aurobindo’s work and the book reflects that. But the book is no hagiography. Heehs tried to bring a historian’s objective eye to Aurobindo’s extraordinary life. That’s part of what makes the book so accessible and interesting. He doesn’t present Aurobindo as an untouchable flawless saint or Avatar. Indeed, he steered clear of the hagiographic, messianic mythology that has built up around the memory of Aurobindo and his long time collaborator, the Mother, over the last decades. Heehs presents him as a spiritually gifted genius and pioneering teacher and writer, but all in the context of Aurobindo being a human being who was shaped by the remarkable circumstances of his life.

Doesn’t exactly sound like the raw material for a scandal, does it? But that’s what is unfolding right now in the world of Aurobindo—which includes the Ashram in India, Auroville, and many supporters and students worldwide. A few individuals have started a campaign against the book calling it malicious and claiming that it maligns the legacy of this great Indian figure. Not only that, they have even convinced the Indian legal system to temporarily stay publication of the book. And they have tried to kick Peter Heehs out of the ashram in India where he has lived for many years. Basically, it sounds like a mess, and it’s causing a split in those who are passionate about Aurobindo’s legacy and work. The good news is that Heehs’s supporters are fighting back and have stated a website called Integral Yoga Fundamentalism, in which they document the controversy and provide updates. Continue reading…

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About EnlightenNext

Founded in 1992, EnlightenNext magazine is an ongoing exploration into some of modern life's biggest questions—spanning science, philosophy, politics, psychology, business, the environment, art, technology, and more. It's a magazine of ideas to inspire contemplation, conversation, and, most importantly, a creative response to the most pressing challenges of our time.